I started my last post trying to extol the virtues of adventure. It veered off into a rant. So be it. I posted it anyway.
Whether my ramblings struck a chord or not, I needed adventure. I needed it now! I needed to get my ass out there and do something. I needed it done before the next election and more importantly I needed to get it done before winter clips my wings. All my favorite adventures happen outdoors.
In the midst of a very busy period of time I picked my adventure. I did so in haste, because it’s easy to wait too long for the right time. Doing cool shit is always inconvenient. It’s always over budget. It’s always something you can delay because you’ve got other things to do.
I dropped everything and deliberately elected to do my own thing. I encourage you to do the same. It’s not as easy as it sounds.
Part of the price to pay is that I haven’t mowed the lawn. Do I really care? Not really. It’s a fuckin’ lawn. Who cares about fuckin’ lawns?
I decided to go because I must. I decided to go on an arbitrary looming date because it wasn’t going to happen without an immediate urgent crash project to make it so.
The good news is my chosen adventure was just right. Well outside my comfort zone. At the edge of my physical capacity. Some of my gear was inadequate. There were unknowns. There were risks. It was an all around pain in the ass that disrupted my daily chores; which was exactly the purpose. Also it was a challenge that I could do. If you don’t have the body or finances to summit Everest, don’t wither away regretting your limitations… climb something smaller. Dream but don’t be a dumbass. Keep your feet planted.
My two likely options were ventures on my little homemade sailboat and ventures on my little dirt bike. Arbitrarily, I chose the Yamaha. (It’s not that I dislike my sailboat, it’s just that I only had time for one “thing” and the bike won.) Note that last year I bought an excellent 1989 Honda Pacific Coast 800 for “road trips” but this year, when the time came, it didn’t make the cut. I’d planned for a road trip but exploring pavement is too solidly in my comfort zone. I’ve done it before; many times. This year everything seems so artificially dire that my heart rejects small efforts. That’s another way of saying I needed to do something “new”.
I found an outfit with the somewhat marketer-iffic name of Backcountry Discovery Routes (BDR). They explore areas, concoct extended routes by piecing together bits of trail, map it, and promote it (as well as try to inspire off road motorcycle trips in general). (There are many such outfits. They all have pros and cons. My selection doesn’t mean the others are bad, only different.)
BDR has dozens of paths already mapped. No need to reinvent the wheel! That convenience is part of why the boat sits forlorn in the yard while the bike is happily covered with a patina of desert grime.
According to their web site: “Backcountry Discovery Routes® is a non-profit organization that creates off-highway routes for adventure and dual-sport motorcycle travel.” I suspect they were created to either juice or harvest the booming ADV motorcycle market (or perhaps the associated motocamping accessory market). I’m perfectly happy with that.
Roughly speaking, each “BDR” crosses a state. There are ten western states with a BDR. There are two multi-state BDRs in New England, which makes sense if you look at a map of New England. California’s BDR is split in two, north and south, which makes sense if you look at a map of California. There’s a couple smaller one or two day loops, called BDR-X; which is nice because crossing a whole State is a big bite of a huge sandwich.
The point is, these folks map out the trail and become cheerleaders for it; which makes it easier for those that follow. I salute them! Starting from scratch would have been a nearly insurmountable task. Crossing great swaths of nature on obscure trails known mostly to locals would be pretty sketchy!
BDR maps kindly break routes into digestible bites called “sections”. Sections don’t necessarily match a “day’s ride” but they can. They also mark important things, like gas stops and campsites (or hotels, if any can be found).
BDR maps assume you’re traveling the route in a specific direction (i.e. from south to north). Barring weird local anomalies, there’s no reason whatsoever you must travel a route in any particular direction. I didn’t.
They picked routes based on motorcycles but you don’t have to do a BDR with a motorcycle. I met a nice young couple following BDR waypoints in a Toyota. More power to ‘em! One limit is that sometimes the routes interact with main paved roads. Whatever you drive ought to have a license plate. This is a shame because doing a BDR with an ATV sounds pretty fun to me.
If you need an adventure, have a bike that can do dirt, and don’t feel like starting from scratch, I heartily recommend Backcountry Discovery Routes. I loved my trip.
The maps cost $20 and they’re high quality. It’s money well spent. They’re cheap considering you’re financing a shitload of research. A professional guide would burn two orders of magnitude more money. You don’t have to buy the map. You can download their GPS data, which is free. (I downloaded it myself on two digital navigation gadgets.) However, I bought a map because sometimes paper is better and also I appreciate all their efforts. Incidentally, I was out of cell phone range most of my trip. Another reason to have paper as a backup.
Now that I’m back home, I’ll probably buy a sticker, because why not? I’m grateful the BDR people had much of the complex shit figured out in advance. And my bike has earned a farkle!
I’ve been dancing around the details. I’m a pretty private guy and you don’t need to know where I’ve been. But this time I’ll spill the beans. My hope is that a few people who “need” adventures get a little inspiration from my story, regardless of whether it’s a BDR or something totally different.
The BDR I picked, was Wyoming.
More to come.